Tung Chao Yung was a legend in China. He built his shipping empire from virtually nothing.At the peak of his career, he owned a shipping fleet with over 150 freight ships. His fleet's cargo capacity exceeded 10 million tons. He was one of the world's top seven freight moguls. He was often called the Onassis of the Orient.
He believed in the importance of education. In September of 1970, he bought the famous oceanliner RMS Queen Elizabeth to convert it into a floating university S.S. Seawise University to keep the World Campus Afloat program alive. On January 9, 1972, the ship caught on fire during refurbishing and sank into Hong Kong's harbor. The wreckage of the ship was featured in a James Bond movie. He did not give up the plan because of this setback. He bought a smaller oceanliner Atlantic to complete the plan. He cooperated with various Universities (e.g. University of Pittsburgh) to run the academic programs at sea.